


The Holiday

by klcwriting



Category: The Flash (TV 2014)
Genre: F/M, Others Characters Mentioned And Cameo But Not Tagged, mentions of domestic abuse, not much but better safe than sorry
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-12-18
Updated: 2016-12-22
Packaged: 2018-09-09 14:35:09
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 2,737
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8894410
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/klcwriting/pseuds/klcwriting
Summary: Two women trade apartments for two weeks, neither one expecting what was awaiting them in the new city.God, that's cheesy, but it's a romcom. Based on the Nancy Meyer movie by the same name.





	1. Chapter 1

Day 1  
Iris removed the bag from her shoulder and opened her laptop on the kitchen table. She was going to get a head start on her articles, two, both 1500 words, about the National S.T.E.M conference being held in Ivy Town University’s Central Auditorium. To quote her editor, every single theory and invention coming out of there was going to change the world and he'll be damned if he didn't send their best reporter. It was flattering, Iris would admit, but some difficulty might arise by her complete and utter lack of scientific background. However, she does have perseverance and a knack for research. Armed with only her laptop, a pamphlet with every presentation at the conference, and a triple shot expresso she picked up on her way from the train station, she was going to learn everything she needed to know.

As soon as she connected to the internet. What is Caitlin's router name? And password?

Iris looked around at the unfamiliar surroundings, oh boy.

The apartment swap seemed too good to be true. The odds that someone needed a place to stay in Central City the same time she needed to be in Ivy Town and over the holiday were astronomical. Sure, would cover a hotel for the days she needed to be in town for the conference but not the week and a half of vacation time she had to up by the end of the year. She had thought house swap. But Iris was no double guessing herself.

She looked around for a note or anything until she spotted a legal pad on top of the microwave covered in neat blocky handwriting. Instructions for Iris.

Pretty basic stuff. When to water the plants, the food that needed to be used up before it expired, an emphasis to call or text if she needs anything, it was very well organized. Towards the bottom of the list, Iris found the password: crystalization72.

 

 

 

Caitlin definitely liked Iris’ decorating, the whole apartment was modern yet homey. Yeah, she could definitely make herself comfortable here for the next two weeks. She sunk into the couch with her sudoko, fully prepared to relax, when there was a quick, insistent knock. “Iris.” Came a muffled voice from the hallway. Groaning, Caitlin rolled off the couch and opened the door. It was a shorter, latino guy with shoulder length hair and a confused expression on his face. He pointed at her. “You’re not Iris.”

“Nope. I’m, uh, housesitting while she’s on vacation.”

“Okay, uh, I left my cell phone here last night. It’s probably in the kitchen, can I just get in there real quick?”

She paused. “I don’t know you. I- I’ll find it. Just a second.” She closed the door behind her, redoing the chain lock before she he stepped into the kitchen. Okay, phone, phone, oh. It was on top of the microwave. She returned to the door, handing the phone to the guy.

He smiled. “You know, I’m not a serial killer, I live down the hall. Pretty sure Iris will vouch for me.”

Caitlin shrugged. “Can’t blame a woman for being careful. Especially in a strange city.”

“You’re not from around here?”

“Ivy Town. It’s a house swap, Iris is at my place.”

He nodded. “Well, you are welcome to take her place at movie night.”

Caitlin shook her head. “Let’s get something straight, I’m not looking for a fling or a grand sweeping romance. So you can stop, ri-”

“I have a girlfriend.”

Caitlin blanches. Way to embarrass yourself, she chided. “Sorry. I-”

“Nah.” The guy said dismissively. “I can see how that came across. No, Iris, her brother and I have a movie night at my place, tomorrow and Fridays, but with her out of town and I don’t imagine you have plans, you can join us if you want."

She shrugs. “I’ll consider it.”

“Oh, I’m just down the hall. 3A. Cisco Ramon.” He offered his hand.

She shook it. “Caitlin Snow."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm not the kind of person who writes a bunch of incredible or obscure easter eggs but on the off chance I manage it, I gloat. Caitlin's password is based on the comic in which she becomes Killer Frost: frozen to death in the Arctic, Star Labs Outpost 72 in JLA 7.2


	2. Chapter 2

**_Day 2_ **

Iris woke up in the middle of the night to the sounds of someone in the apartment. Oh god, someone was in the apartment. That is when she spotted the wooden baseball bat that leaned against the door frame. Iris doesn’t really know Caitlin Snow, but that woman seems prepared for anything.  Iris grabs the baseball bat, leaving the bedroom in tiptoes. There was only one source  of light in the apartment from the intruders flashlight. Their back was turned away from her. She had one clear shot behind their knees… 

Their legs buckle beneath them. “Whoa, whoa, what’s going on?” Okay, definitely male.

“Get out of my apartment!” She scowled, bat posed for another swing.The man froze. “You’re not Caitlin.”

She lowered the bat a little. “Snow? Who are you?”

“Barry Allen. I’m her cousin, I have a key.” He held his key ring above his head; on it was a mini-flashlight, that illuminate a key was clearly labeled Cait. “Why are you in her apartment?”

“I’m… living here. Until the end of the month. Why are you here at…” she looks at the clock on the wall, “4 in the morning.”

“I think I had a breakthrough and Cait has all of our notes and I really just need to look at them.”

“Why are you sneaking around?”

“Caitlin’s a really light sleeper, like you, I imagine, and I thought she was leaving today and not yesterday apparently. I didn’t want to wake her.” He gets back on his feet, crossing the room to flip the light switch. She gets her first look at Barry Allen. a pale brunet with gangly limbs. Yeah, Iris thought, I could have taken him out with the bat.

“Breakthrough with what?” Iris asks.

“We’re trying to engineer this chemical to improve DNA testing and we’ve been stuck on the bonding and I think I figured something out.” He grabbed a file out of a drawer of the coffee table and spread the content on the surface. It was odd to she what she recognized as Caitlin’s neat handwriting next to so much chicken scratch. 

“What’s the protocol here?” Iris asked. “Does this happen often?”

He was like a deer in the headlights. “Often enough. Um, if you’re uncomfortable, I- I could leave. You can get back to sleep.”

She shrugged. “I nearly clobbered you with a baseball bat, I’m fully awake.” 

He nodded. “Want some coffee? Cait and I usually put a pot on.”

“Sure.”

  
  


As Caitlin ate her bagel the next morning for breakfast, she checked her phone to realize that she had a new message from Iris.

_ You didn’t warn me about late night visitors. _

Late night visitors…? Wait. Barry! She sighed and pressed the call button. When the other end of the line picked up Caitlin said. “You are at full liberty to kick Barry out at anytime.”

“It’s okay. It was alarming at first, I did use your bat. I gave him my number so that it doesn’t happen again. So, you two are close, I take it. He has a key.”

“Mom shipped me over to live with his family every summer. Barry and I were pretty much inseparable. Strangers thought that we were twins.”

“Huh, so, he’s harmless?”

“Like a puppy dog. Speaking of meeting new people, your neighbor got his phone back, I was invited to movie night.”

“I’m gone for one day and they replace me. Figures.”

“Should I go?”

“Depends. It’s Wally’s turn, how much do you like cars and explosions?”

“Not the biggest fan.”

Caitlin heard the click of Iris’ tongue on the other end of the line. “Wait, Friday’s my turn to pick the movie. Choose something they’ll hate, maybe something soppy and romantic. Ooh, Wally hates _Love, Actually_.”

“Period film?”

There was a pause. “You’re diabolical. I should get going. Good luck on your interview, by the way.”

“Thank you. Have fun at the conference.”

“Bye.”

“Bye.”


	3. Chapter 3

Caitlin briefly wondered what she was doing. _Who just goes and watches movies in a stranger’s apartment?_ She could be reading a book she brought with her and finding out if Noelle and Kurt ever managed to renew their love after her failed marriage to another man but no, here she was holding a bag of chips and french onion dip she picked up at the bodega a few blocks away in the middle of a hallway trying to gather the will to knock on the door. _Now or never, Caitlin. Do you really want to spend two weeks in complete solitude?_ And with that, she took a breath and knocked.

Cisco opened the door, excitedly. "You came."

She raised the bag. "I brought chips, I hope that's alright."

"You didn't have to but thanks, Wally loves that brand. Well, Wally loves all brands. Wally could eat a grocery store out of house and home. He just pulled up to the building should be here any second.”

Caitlin nodded, taking a seat on the end of a maroon couch. Obviously, movie nights were serious business here; a bowl of popcorn, Oreos, and cans of soda were already laid out on the table, to say nothing of the pizza that she could smell cooking in the oven. Sure enough, it wasn’t long before a kid (Should she call him a kid? He’s probably in his twenties) arrived, smile on his face and a DVD in his hand. “Who’s ready for Tokyo Drift?”

“You must be Wally?”

He turned to her. “And you must be Caitlin, Cisco mentioned he invited you. What brings you to Central City?”

“I have a job interview tomorrow at Star Labs.”

“No way!” Cisco called from the kitchen. “Star Labs? That’s where I work, Mechanical Engineer. What department are you interviewing for? Do you think you’ll get it?”

“Bioengineering. I used to work for the Starling City branch so… there’s a chance”

“Why’d you leave?”

 “Personal reasons. I’d rather not get into it.” Caitlin stilled, waiting for his response. _Please don’t pry._

Cisco nodded. “Fair enough. Pizza’s almost done, Wally pop that DVD in the player.”

 

 

 

 

**_From Barry Allen: It was a 4 on the movie scale, 3 on a zombie movie scale._ **

Iris smiled at the text and returned her focus on the article postulating weather manipulation _._ Barry Allen was proving to be very distracting. The texts first started when Barry was warning her to take quick showers because Caitlin’s water temperature dropped very suddenly after 6 minutes. Eventually, it progressed to him telling her all about a movie he was watching (apparently he rates zombie films more harshly than ordinary films). First, she needed to finish reading the article. Barry would be fine, he can send 7 text messages in a row without a response, she learned this last night.

There was a ping and then another ping and then another and another. Then it stopped, after a few minutes the silence began to worry Iris. She didn’t want him to think that he was ignoring her. Article be damned, she taking a break.

**_From Barry Allen: Did you know that at no point in Romero’s Night of the Living Dead are the creatures referred to as zombies? Even the script calls them ghouls. The term zombie didn’t appear in the series until Dawn of The Dead._ **

**_From Barry Allen: Also, the brain eating concept wasn’t introduced by Romero like some people think. It was actually his former partner Russo, in his Return of the Living dead series._ **

**_From Barry Allen: The concept of zombies actually originated in Haitian folklore, corpses reanimated by voodoo magic. Of course, now it is applied to any run of the mill reanimated corpse, regardless of origin be it medical, radioactive, etc._ **

**_From Barry Allen: I’m sorry, I’m boring you aren’t I?_ **

Iris rolled her eyes before texting back.

**_To Barry Allen: No, it’s really interesting. I’m just getting my research in before the STEM conference this week._ **

His response was almost immediate.

**_From Barry Allen: Wait, wait, wait. You’re going to the STEM conference._ **

**_To Barry Allen: Yes._ **

**_From Barry Allen: I wanted to go with Cait but she left town._ **

Iris deliberated before she responded.

**_To Barry Allen: I could use some company. Do you want to come with me?_ **

**_From Barry Allen: ABSOLUTELY! I need to catch up on a case at work but I am in._ **


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm little late today, had to edit after my shift at work. Hope you enjoy it.

As she had her lunch, Iris begin to wonder how Barry, and by extension, Caitlin seem to be so normal because, to be frank, Ivy Town was really weird. Like really, reeaalllly weird. 

She was looking out the cafe’s window to see a blacksmith right next to a computer store. What kind of a place is this? As two people who seemed to be dressed as puritans crossed the street and entered the cafe, Iris decided to make small talk by asking if they went to the blacksmith often. They stared at her unblinkingly before informing her that it was, in fact, a ferrier; the distinction being that a ferrier strictly shoed horses, whereas blacksmithery is much broader.

Iris wondered what she expected from Ivy Town. Other than their stellar science program at the local university, the town’s other claims to fame are the urban legend of a Man-eating Cancer God that lurks in the sewers (which was later disproven as the drug trip of a local sanitation worker) and that there was a serial killer here, 6 years ago, that was never found (the town had briefly even change their slogan from “come to visit, stay a lifetime” to “please, come and visit”.)

 

 

 

Caitlin was currently doing everything she could to calm her nerves. In her head, she knew that Dr. Tess Morgan was not here to tear her self-esteem and accomplishments to shreds; however, it did not put the pressure off of this job interview. Caitlin lightly drummed her fingers against her knee as the older woman looked through her resume.

“So, Miss Snow, it looks like over the course of your previous employment here you were an exemplary employee. Your credentials are fantastic; it’s very impressive.”

Caitlin's hands stilled against her knee. “Thank you.” She said graciously.

“However, I am curious as to why after all this time you wish to return to this company?” Dr. Morgan answered.

“It's not that I did not enjoy my time here. Undoubtedly, this was my favorite place of employment; however, there were extenuating circumstances two and a half years ago that made it impossible for me to continue. I believe the report was in the file?

“I am aware. I rather meant; you feel it's been a sufficient amount of time since these events for you to return to your work?

“Yes.” Caitlin nodded furiously. “I've had a lot of time to collect myself and, as dear as Ivy Town is to me, there is no place for me to grow professionally there.”

“Well,  Dr. Snow,” Dr. Morgan started, “I think that this company would be lucky to have you. There is a position available, it's a step or two below your previous position; however, I can see you advancing fairly quickly if your work is on par with what it was previously.”

Caitlin felt like time had slow to a halt. “So, I have the job.”

Dr. Morgan nodded.

Once, Caitlin was out of the building she reached for her phone, growing more excited with every second she waited for Barry to pick up. “Cait?”

“I got the job. Barry,I got the job!”

“Cait, that’s great! I’m so excited for you!”

She smiled into the receiver. “I know it will be harder to work on our project with me in Central City but...”

“Caitlin.” Barry interrupted. “We both knew Ivy Town was temporary for you. You don’t have to worry about leaving me behind.”

Sometimes, Caitlin was still surprised that Barry could be so thoughtful. “What’s going on over there?”

“Not a lot. Dr. Alvarez called to tell me I’m due for a check up. I’m going to the University’s Conference with Iris. Got some gro-”

“Wait. With Iris? Staying-In-My-Apartment Iris? Based-On-The-Pictures-In-Her-Apartment-Mind-Blowingly-Gorgeous Iris? You have a date with her?”

“Cait, I th-chh you’re break-chh up. Talk Later. Bye,” He hung up on her.

Caitlin shook her head. If he thought he could avoid her prying into his practically nonexistent love life he was sorely mistaken.

**Author's Note:**

> I'm not the kind of person who writes a bunch of incredible or obscure easter eggs but on the off chance I manage it, I gloat. Caitlin's password is based on the comic in which she becomes Killer Frost: frozen to death in the Arctic, Star Labs Outpost 72 in JLA 7.2


End file.
